Geoffrey Regan
{{Short description|British writer and teacher (1946–2005)}}
{{For|the Canadian politician|Geoff Regan}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Geoffrey Regan
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Geoffrey Bernard Regan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1946|07|15}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2005|3|28|1946|07|15}}
| education = University of Kent: M.A.
| alma_mater = University of London: PGCE (1972)
| occupation = author
| website = {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204023108/http://thehistorian.co.uk/menupage.html |date=4 February 2005 |title=thehistorian.co.uk }}
}}
Geoffrey Bernard Regan (15 July 1946{{snd}}28 March 2005){{cite web|website=Worldcat|url=https://entities.oclc.org/worldcat/entity/E39PBJjt9M89PyHkcPjQtVhJXd.html|access-date=14 March 2025|title=WorldCat Entities: Geoffrey Regan}}Precise date found by search of [https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/ UK probate records] for Geoffrey Regan, died 2005. was an English author of popular history, senior school teacher and broadcaster. He authored books focused on military failures, and wrote for newspapers and periodicals such as USA Today{{cite news|work=USA Today|title= War technology cannot always trump human error|first=Geoffrey|last=Regan|date=4 August 2003 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-04-08-opcom_x.htm}} and History Today.{{cite news |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110823222450/http://www.historytoday.com/geoffrey-regan/time-bandit |archive-date= 23 August 2011 |url=http://www.historytoday.com/geoffrey-regan/time-bandit |access-date=6 September 2012 |url-status=dead |title=Time Bandit |work= History Today |volume=51 |date=1 December 2001 | last=Regan |first= Geoffrey |quote=... explains how the experience of boredom in the classroom set him off into a career as inspirational teacher, writer and broadcaster }}
Education and career
Regan attended Sunbury Grammar School from 1957 onwards, University of Kent from 1965–1970, receiving his B.A. and M.A., and took his Postgraduate Certificate in Education at University of London in 1972. He taught at senior school level from 1971 through to 1990. He lived in Surrey, England.{{cite web|title=Geoffrey Regan website |year=2000 |url=http://www.thehistorian.co.uk/GeoffreyRegan.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20001209072800/http://www.thehistorian.co.uk/GeoffreyRegan.html |archivedate=9 December 2000 |url-status=dead |accessdate=19 January 2017 |df=dmy}}
Reception
Kirkus Reviews, describing Regan as author of "numerous popular military histories", wrote that Lionhearts "shines a soft, flattering light" on the warring leaders Saladin and Richard I, and scarcely condemns atrocities against captives.{{cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/geoffrey-regan/lionhearts/
|accessdate=6 September 2012 |title=Lionhearts by Geoffrey Regan | publisher=Kirkus Book Reviews
|date=15 May 1999}}
A review of Great Military Disasters in the U.S. Air Force's Air Power Journal referred to it as "in depth"; the author's "historical perspective demonstrates the usefulness of studying history to gain insight, temper judgement, and train the mind".{{cite journal |last=Terry |first= Michael R. |year=1990 |title=Net Assessment: Great Military Disasters (review) |journal=Airpower Journal|volume= 4 |issue= 1 |page= 81 |accessdate=6 September 2012 |publisher=U.S. Superintendent of Documents|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/book-reviews/9604290405/net-assessment|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140119083456/http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/book-reviews/9604290405/net-assessment|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 January 2014}}{{subscription required}} The St. Louis Post-Dispatch stated that with the book's "melancholy roll-call of failure, the student of military history might well wonder how anybody wins".{{cite news| title=Book review: Sad roll call of warfare's bad blunders|first=Harry |last=Levine |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Newsbank)|date= 8 November 1988 | page= 5D |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB3298454D38918&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM}}{{subscription required}}
Fight or Flight was described in its 1996 Air Power Journal review as "readable, well organized, and extremely accessible", and "with an increasing number of military books dealing with technology, [...], it is refreshing to find a book that emphasizes the one element found in all combat – people."{{cite web |url=http://www.airpower.au.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj96/fal96.html |accessdate=6 September 2012 |title=Net Assessment: Fight or Flight (review) |date=Fall 1996 |volume=X |issue=3 (AFRP 10-1) |first=Robert |last=Tate |publisher=U.S. Air Force Air University |archive-date=23 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523213143/http://www.airpower.au.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj96/fal96.html |url-status=dead }}
Works
He published more than 40 books,[http://www.paperbackswap.com/Geoffrey-Regan/author/ "Geoffrey Regan (author)"]. PaperbackSwap.com. including:
- Great Military Disasters: A Historical Survey of Military Incompetence 1988. {{ISBN|978-0871315373}}
- The Guinness Book of Military Blunders Guinness. 1991. {{ISBN|978-0851129617}}
- Fight or Flight 1996. {{ISBN|978-0380780198}}
- Lionhearts: Saladin, Richard I, and the Era of the Third Crusade 1999. {{ISBN|978-0802713544}}
- Backfire: A History of Friendly Fire 1999. {{ISBN|978-0788161216}}
- Great Military Blunders 2000, {{ISBN|978-0752218984}}. Regan was the Series Consultant for the Channel Four television series Great Military Blunders{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=ii83vgAACAAJ |access-date= 22 December 2022 |title= Great Military Blunders: History's Worst Battlefield Decisions from Ancient Times to the Present Day |isbn= 978-0233005096 |last1= Regan |first1= Geoffrey |date=2017 }}
- Naval Blunders 2000. {{ISBN|978-1574882537}}
- Royal Blunders 2004. {{ISBN|978-0233050447}}
- Battles That Changed History 2006. {{ISBN|978-1844421787}}
- First Crusader: Byzantium's Holy Wars 2003. {{ISBN|978-1403961518}}
References
External links
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001018223046/http://www.thehistorian.co.uk/menupage.html |date=18 October 2000 |title=Geoffrey Regan website }}.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regan, Geoffrey}}
Category:Alumni of the University of London